Month: March 2017

Meet Hershey Zafra, a cute and playful puppy. But he lost half of his left ear due to an infected wound on the left pinna which was left untreated for weeks because the owner didn’t notice it due to Hershey long coat. So please check your pets daily while petting and caressing them, it could prevent some serious problem. ( Or atleast half an ear)

Thailand was the first country I’ve been to except Philippines. Everybody should visit there. The people are very kind and will try their very best to understand your hand gestures. It’s relatively clean and safe compared to Philippines. We were there for less than a week and arrived on a sunday. This means that we have to visit and shop on Chatuchak weekend market on our first day. I quickly loaded my Nikon F3 with Ektar ( at-least that was the box of film I was holding but the film inside was the Fujicolor Superia 1600! I was gonna save this for some night time shooting at Khao san road. It was a mix up of different box and film due to the inspection in the airport. Luckily I realized that it was the superia before closing the back. Giving me a chance to rate it at 1600).

Chatuchak market is so big that it will take you the whole day to fully explore it. I would suggest you visit it on your last day so you can spend all your remaining money here. The food is amazing and the trinkets are cheap!

She’s been arranging and rearranging her cats for quite sometime giving me a chance to snap this.

Superia 1600 giving a great rendition of skin tones.

“Frame”

Superia 1600 actually is okay. If you need a high iso colored film I’d recommend this being not as pricey as other high iso film and is able to deliver great photo. Yes it’s a bit grainy but it’s normal at 1600. The Superia 1600 is definitely a must try!

Well I have recently been “G.A.Sing” hard. I have been browsing the net looking for reviews, photos taken with the camera (Om4 Ti) and just plain day dreaming of the shots I’ll take with it, for the better part of a week!

We humans are unhappy because we’re insatiable. An ultra-marathoner of the “Hedonic treadmill”. We get what we desire let’s say (in my case) the Olympus Om2n with a 24mm 2.8 and less than a week you adapt to them and the dissatisfaction returns. Maybe this time it’s a Om 50mm f1.2 lens that would do the trick or the Om4 ti. Let’s not stop there maybe the harder to find Om3 would get my itch scratched.

Enough is enough. When lusting for a piece of equipment is taking more time than the actual creation, it becomes unhealthy for me. I can read a review plenty of times and still read it some more (http://www.35mmc.com/12/09/2016/olympus-om4ti/ and http://camerajunky.net/2012/06/19/olympus-om-4-ti-black/).

My go to cure for G.A.S:

Negative visualization– Imagine how you’ll feel if you lost your go to camera now. Vividly imagine that your camera got stolen on that shady street you were walking by. This is very effective for me, reminds me how much I wanted my camera before I had it and how much I’ll miss it if I lose it. Then I find myself stroking the old beater camera with care and looking at it with love.

1 Month rule- I use this one with almost every possible buy. The rule is simple if I want to buy something that’s gonna cost more than 1,000 php or around 20 usd I write it on my notebook with the starting date (ex. Om4ti- Feb26, 2017). So if after 30days I still want to buy the Om4ti I’ll pull the trigger on it (which is good cause usually in 30 days time someone already bought it first!).

Reread the reviews of your camera- Luckily for me Nikon F3 has a ton of great review in the web. This somehow makes me feel that the camera i’m already using is more than enough. If I want to create a better photo It’s me who’s got to improve and not the equipment.

These 3 steps helped me solve my G.A.S for a while i’m sure it’ll pop out sooner or later. I always say to myself that great photos have been taken with less (older cameras), so it’s not the equipment that make a photo but the one behind the camera.

I think the difference between digital and film for me is the feel of the actual analogue camera. Every morning I always gravitate towards my F3 even it would be cheaper for me and a lot healthier for my back to carry my D7000 (feels lighter). Somehow the F3 rewired my brain I get a dopamine rush every time I cock the film advance (buttery smooth!) and pressing the shutter (that shutter sound it’s so good it kinda makes me moist), yes the shutter is loud ( I was trying to be stealthy shooting in a church, not with a mass going mind you, I swear that at least 4 person looked at me hearing the sound of the shutter) but it just sound so right. It doesn’t matter what camera you use as long as you use it and that’s what I love about the F3 it makes you want to use it. Just handling it is a pleasure and carrying it is kinda stealthy with the normal black one. So whatever camera makes you want to carry it that’s the one for you. Stop looking at the review of that Om4 ti. Stop mental masturbating about that om 50mm 1.2 and use what you have Dan. That’s all you need.

Kodak Gold. I’m on the fence with this one some shots I definitely love, some makes me wanna puke. The color is not that consistent (most likely user error and not the films fault). But it’s kinda cheap so that’s a big plus for a broke ass person like me.

Light against Dark

I always slowly creep away from whoever buys the giant black candle, It’s for peace of conscience. I can only imagine what they did to deserve have to buy 3 or 4 of that.

My 2nd favorite of this roll. That impish face is priceless!

As you can see I do take a lot of photos of things and strangers but I try to take more photos of love ones. Personal photos are the one that’s always infused with emotions and meaning for me so I do try to take more. Life is fickle you never know how long we have remaining so make the most of it connect, listen and be present to the one you love.

My favorite of the roll. I can’t put my finger on why I love this picture so much even the color have a cyan cast on it. I just want to make a large of print of this and hang it near my desk.

Remember:

Use what you have Dan. You don’t need a Olympus Om4ti with 50mm 1.2 to make a decent photo.